Thursday, March 30, 2017

It's time for Trump to release his tax returns -- March 30, 2017 column

By MARSHA MERCER

About once a week, House Democrats try to force
President Donald Trump to release his tax returns, and about once a week House
Republicans stop them.

Republicans Tuesday blocked a Democratic resolution on
the House floor about the same time Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee
defeated a similar Democratic effort.

But why?

Trump’s tax returns should not be a partisan issue –
and if their release becomes a long-running battle, both parties will lose. To
move ahead with his agenda, the president needs to release his returns now.

Most people want Trump to release his returns, polls
show. Plus, nearly 1.1 million people signed a petition on the White House web
site, calling for their release.

Many Republicans wish he had done so long ago, as his
predecessors did for the last 40 years.

It’s “disqualifying for a modern-day presidential
nominee to refuse” to release his returns, 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt
Romney said during the campaign.

“Republican voters, GOP officials, and all Americans
should demand that Donald Trump release his tax returns, something he refuses
to do with the flimsiest of excuses,” National Review columnist John Fund wrote
a year ago.

If it was true then, why not now? Mainly because Trump
is in the White House and he doesn’t want to.

“What’s he got to hide?” asked Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.,
who has led the effort to force release under a 1924 law that allows Ways and
Means to obtain tax returns of executive branch officials.

With Trump about to start on tax reform, Democrats
rightly argue that people have a right to know the president’s financial
relationships and potential conflicts of interest. Republican House leaders counter
that forcing Trump to release his returns would jeopardize his individual civil
liberties and right to privacy.

Only two Republicans broke with their party – Reps.
Walter Jones of North Carolina and Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Others have
tried to have it both ways.

Constituents at a town hall meeting in February cheered
Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, when he said: “You run for president, you’re president,
you should release your tax returns. It’s a distraction and I think the
American people should know,” the AP reported.

In Washington, though, Young voted against the
measure. An aide dismissed the vote as a “partisan stunt.”

Trump initially said he couldn’t release his returns
because he’s under audit by the IRS, although it’s up to him. Later he said the
election proved people don’t care about his taxes.

That’s easy for him to say when people haven’t seen
them.

Trump’s refusal has gotten under Democrats’ skin. They
need to be wary, though, of casting theatrical show votes for their base, as House
Republicans did when they voted more than 60 times to repeal the Affordable
Care Act during the Obama years, none of which succeeded.

Hillary Clinton said of
Trump in a debate that “maybe he doesn’t want the American people – all of you
watching tonight – to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes.”

“That makes me smart,”
Trump shot back.

We got a glimpse of one year Trump paid taxes -- 2005.
Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter Donald Cay Johnston received two
pages of the return anonymously by mail and went on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow
Show” March 14.

Trump paid about $38 million in taxes on $153 million
in income for an effective tax rate of 24 percent. Even though Trump tweeted the
reports were “FAKE NEWS,” the White House confirmed the numbers.

“Thank you Rachel Maddow for proving to your #Trump hating
followers how successful @realDonaldTrump is & that he paid $40mm in taxes!”
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.

Trump and his wife Melania paid most of their income
tax as an alternative minimum tax, which taxpayers must pay in certain
circumstances if they claim many itemized deductions. Trump has called for
eliminating the AMT.

It should come as no surprise that Trump favors tax policies
that will help him and his supporters. More important is whether the policies
also benefit most taxpayers.

Republicans and Democrats should work together to
persuade -- or force – Trump to release his tax returns for the sake of trust
and transparency in government. The people deserve to know.